Serious autoimmune diseases such as type I diabetes or lupus are two to three times more common in women who have been diagnosed with early menopause.
- Premature ovarian failure occurs when the ovaries no longer function properly and have stopped producing eggs in women under the age of 40.
- Serious autoimmune diseases such as type I diabetes, Addison’s disease, lupus and inflammatory bowel disease are two to three times more common in women who have been diagnosed with POI, according to a new study.
- The mechanisms of this association are not yet known.
Premature ovarian failure (POI) is diagnosed when the ovaries do not regularly release eggs and produce enough hormones while the patient is under 40 years old. This disorder is rare: it is estimated that it affects one in 100 women at the age of 40, 1 in 1,000 at the age of 30 and 1 in 10,000 before the age of 20.
Infertility would not be the only risk of this disorder. A study, published in the journal Human Reproduction September 26, 2024 shows that women who have it have a greater risk of developing serious autoimmune diseases such as type I diabetes, Addison’s disease, lupus and inflammatory bowel disease.
A strong link between early menopause and autoimmune disease
For this work, researchers from the University of Oulu (Finland) used data from the medicine reimbursement register kept by the Finnish social insurance institution. They identified 3,972 women who had obtained the right to full reimbursement for hormone replacement therapy (HRT) due to a diagnosis of early menopause between 1988 and 2017. They then compared their records with those of Finnish women of the same age who were not suffering no such trouble.
They found that women were 2.6 times more likely to have an autoimmune disease before a POI diagnosis compared to the control group.
“Estimates of the prevalence of premature ovarian failure of autoimmune origin have been 4% to 50%. Our study found that autoimmune diseases were two to three times more common in women with POI. at the time they were diagnosed The incidence of these diseases was two to three times higher in the first years after the diagnosis of IOP compared to a control group. The incidence was higher than in the control group. , even more than a decade after being diagnosed with POI”adds gynecologist Dr Susanna Savukoski who led the research.
“It should be noted that the risk is not the same for all autoimmune diseases: the association between IOP and certain autoimmune conditions, such as autoimmune polyendocrinopathies, Addison’s disease and vasculitis was very high – a risk of ten to 26 times higher for women with POI preceding their diagnosis compared to the control group – while the risk of rheumatoid arthritis or hyperthyroidism was approximately twice as high.specifies the expert.
IOP and autoimmune diseases: professionals must monitor
For the scientist, the results of the study show a strong association between premature ovarian failure and serious autoimmune diseases. They also reveal that women with early menopause are at long-term risk for autoimmune diseases.
However, she adds in her press release : “It is important to emphasize that most women with IOP do not develop serious autoimmune diseases and most women with serious autoimmune diseases do not develop IOP. However, healthcare professionals health professionals should be aware of the increased risk, and patients should also be informed.”
The specialist and her team specify that the underlying mechanisms of the association revealed are not fully understood. Further research will have to be carried out to try to unravel them.
